For those interested, there are leaked photos ---edited by Bruce---. I know that the rule about preliminaries is very strict here, so I will not post them or directly link to them. I will merely suggest that there could be leaked photos ---edited by Bruce---.

--Did you note how I mentioned twice in the post at the head of this thread to not link to leaked images? Naming sites is the same IMO as giving URLs. - Bruce

EDIT: My sincerest apologies. Caught up a bit in the excitement.

Last edited by OverLoad on Thu Jan 24, 2013 2:54 am, edited 1 time in total.

Huw has posted his descriptions of the Castle and Tolkien sets. Knight Man above quoted the descriptions of the Castle sets, so I'll just include here what Huw wrote about the Tolkien sets:

Lord of the RingsFour new sets for August, all of which were fantastic.

79005, The Wizard Battle, small £12 set featuring Saruman and Gandalf the Grey79006, The Council of Elrond, £30, looks pretty much like I remember it from the film, and features Elrond, Arwen, Frodo and Gimli79007, Battle at the Black Gate, £60, which we've all seen and which contains Aragorn, Gandalf the White, Mouth of Sauron and two Mordor Orcs79008, Pirate Ship Ambush, £90, quite a reasonable ship using the usual parts. I think it has three mid-sections. Brown sails, nine minifigs: Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, KIng of the deas, 2 soldiers of the dead, Pirate of Umbar, which the guy on the stand reckons is supposed to be the one played by Peter Jackson, and two Mordor Orcs.Very few of the finished minifigs were actually on display so I can't tell you whether the orcs were different to last year's.

Huw wrote: 70403 Dragon peak, £35: Damsel imprisoned in a small prison, which is raised up and reached by spiral staircase. Two of knights with a large catapault, a red/black wizard (I presume) and a red dragon, not unlike those in the fantasy-era castle sets..

That one right there got my interest... specifically the red dragon bit. I love the three dragons from the 2007-2008 Castle sets! Hopefully it'll be as good...

Wow, I can honestly say after a lot of patience and hopefulness this news is 100% letdown and that's putting it mildly. What are you THINKING TLG?!? You tease the return of Forest on more than one occasion, first as Elf, then as traditional forestman, and now...basic two factions...LIONS and DRAGONS?????

Way to go creative, especially with the "replica" scenarios:

I guess I will save some major $$$ in 2013. What a blown opportunity. Why the lack of originality either? I mean, I understand "we haven't seen the pics" but in terms of prognostication and stirring discussion, why not expand what they teased in the joust?? Namely, the return of the Black Falcons faction!! Even retreading on the elusive Wolfpack ( ) would stir up more excitement than status quo Lions/Dragons. D-U-M-B.

I appreciate this space as an opportunity to voice true opinion, very glad CC exists. You mods to a great job. Enjoy everything on here.

If the small castle set is $10, then that's only $2.50 a minifig, plus parts. Seems like a whale of a deal to me!

Yeah, I agree. The $10 will more than likely become a great army builder set.

I really gotta see the designs first. I felt like there was some progression in developing the Castle line. We first had Knights Kingdom 1&2 which were pretty undesirable, then we had 2007 Castle which threw this curve-ball at us with some really great additions to the line, then somewhat of a short-term nostalgic throwback with Kingdoms, and now I think we're on the verge of going on step backward.

I mean, it's great to see more Castle, I'm really excited. But it would have been really interesting to see maybe two more factions thrown into the Kingdoms mix. (or a re-do of forestmen)

Here is a pic of the top of the LEGO area, look to the bottom left for Castle.Can't see much except the picture of the red dragon(Exactly the same as Fantasy Era?) and the top of the castle. Maybe I'm seeing what isn't there but doesn't that little green spot by the red spot look like it could be Forest ambush?

I generally feel Lego lines should stick around longer, and have more sets in them. The general vibe seems to me that Kingdoms ended too soon, and I tend to agree. The Wolfpack, Fright Knights, Dragon Knights, Ninja and Royal Knights themes for example, were (slightly) overlapping with (some) other themes, at least, that's how I experienced it because they had all those sets available at the same time (given, only for a short while) while I was a kid, and my first sets were a 3 set compilation of Royal Knights and Fright Knights. Knights Kingdom 1 (which I find had some great figs but a really limited amount of parts) had several 'waves' of products, I'm almost positive (where I live) the 'shiny stuff' 4 set compilation only came after the first wave.

Even parts-wise overlapping themes are more interesting. I could hardly find ways to combine Bulls with Blue Lion knights properly, or Kingdoms Lions with Kingdoms Dragons, or Orcs with Crownies... but put all those together, and you have some great possibilities. I like nothing better than to (sometimes almost endlessly) swap fig parts around to find the best combination and I think kids shouldn't be made to wait until they've garnered sets from over 3 themes, as the time they have to discover the fun it is to create custom forces is limited...

The bottom line of what I'm saying though, is that if themes last longer and are (slightly) overlapping, it just creates sooo much more possibility... It even gave rise to the biggest Lego Castle mystery to me: is the Royal King a Dragon Knight? Or was he a Dragon Knight first before he became King? Or is the Dragon Knight with his face somehow related to him? If any of these scenarios are true, what is that Dragon Knight doing in Royal Drawbridge? See, this is what gets kid's imagination going, rather than short lines with clear relationships where everything is made out. I don't know if this is true for everyone, but I think most people also appreciate having time to get together a proper, consistent force... even as a kid I stayed loyal to the overall (in terms of parts) disappointing KK I theme, and I stopped buying because the Rainbow Knights could fit in nowhere with the guys I had.

I guess Lego (no longer?) does this because they want everyone to realize they have to get the sets quickly, because they'll only be around for a short while...

P.S. I think the Falcon Knight in the Joust is an exclusive minifig put in so people would buy the set, not necessarily a foreshadowing of the return of the Black Falcons. Lego relies hard on people wanting sets for the new parts, things they don't have yet.

Sir Bragallot wrote:The bottom line of what I'm saying though, is that if themes last longer and are (slightly) overlapping, it just creates sooo much more possibility... It even gave rise to the biggest Lego Castle mystery to me: is the Royal King a Dragon Knight? Or was he a Dragon Knight first before he became King? If any of these scenarios are ture, what is that Dragon Knight doing in Royal Drawbridge? See, this is what gets kid's imagination going, rather than short lines with clear relationships where everything is made out. I don't know if this is true for everyone, but I think most people also appreciate having time to get together a proper, consistent force... even as a kid I stayed loyal to the overall (in terms of parts) disappointing KK I theme, and I stopped buying because the Rainbow Knights could fit in nowhere with the guys I had.

I agree, I mean what if I had X amount of money and there was a new castle theme coming out and a current one. It certainly would help a lot if they overlapped so I could decide what sets to get. And as you said it helps spark more imagination in kids. Look at how long the second wave of Kingdoms was around, 6 months is a pretty sorry length for sets to be out...

Romans 8:37~ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.My FlickrMy sets

So here some a reply that will make you gasp and go "WHAT?!" but if you sit down and think about it, most castle sets are...lame. Now before you chomp my head off...stop and think.

1) We are castle builders..the castle sets pale in comparison to what we want and build...big boring wall pieces..half built buildings...etc2) Catapults. Oh yay more catapults...because I didn't already have 50 of them..but hey why not.which leads to the most important point.3) WE ARE NOT THE PEOPLE THESE SETS ARE DESIGNED. Sorry that it is all caps but it is true. We aren't. We are a mere 10% of LEGO's sales. The kids who are out there buying the new castle lines, didn't have the past ones...because they were 3 or something. 4) If they were to build a huge epic castle for us, it would be so expensive no one could/would buy it. And it wouldn't be up to the standards we use.

I could go on and on...

So it is all about the figs, their accessories, and the weapons. Did you get new and interesting things for that with this new line? Who knows, but hopefully.

So having said that...I'm just happy that they are back...so I can flood people with gifts of castle, whether they want it or not.